New Ipswich Town captain Dara O’Shea looking to put 16-year nightmare ‘to bed’

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Dara O’Shea has been appointed the new Ipswich Town captain ahead of their upcoming Championship campaign, with the goal for the club to achieve promotion.

Kieran McKenna is expected to lead Ipswich Town to promotion this season, having just been relegated from the Premier League; however, despite this they still have a strong squad.

Ipswich may have lost their star striker Liam Delap to Chelsea for £30 million, but they look poised to win the race for Chuba Akpom.

To sign the striker from Ajax they had to beat out Birmingham City, who they will face in the opener of the new Championship season.

While O’Shea and Ipswich will be hopeful to get off to a quick start to help their push for promotion, there is another nightmare, they need to address this season.

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O’Shea looking to put poor record against Norwich City ‘to bed’

The new Ipswich Town captain understands there is a lot of pressure on the Tractor Boys to deliver this season; however, he is willing to embrace it.

Yet, the Republic of Ireland international is determined to end the long wait for a win against their rivals Norwich City.

Ipswich have not managed to secure victory over the Canaries, home or away, in 16 years; a stat O’Shea wants to see disappear following a conversation with the East Anglia Daily Times.

He said: “You come to any club, one of the first things you find out is who their rivals are.

“You quickly hear about Norwich here.

“You learn how much it means to the town and the fans. It’s going to be important to put in a good showing, give the fans what they want. It’s something that’s been spoken about for a while.

“Is it 16 years without a win? Hopefully we can put that to bed this season.

“Before that game comes, there’s a lot of other football to be played. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it and see how we get on then.”

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The last Ipswich Town win over Norwich City

Ipswich Town have not managed to secure a win over their East Anglia rivals for 16 years; when they won 3-2 in April 2009.

It would be Jim Magilton’s final game in charge of Ipswich before the club would appoint Roy Keane as manager.

The victory helped doom Norwich City to relegation to League One, with Alan Quinn, Giovanni Dos Santos and Jon Stead scoring the Tractor Boys’ goals.

The Canaries were angered by referee Neil Swarbrick’s decision to award Ipswich a penalty after Lisbie had hurdled a challenge from Marshall.

It proved to be the turning point in the game, as it denied Norwich the chance to get back in the game as Stead scored a third and decisive goal.